Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has joined the growing number of Nigerians questioning the cost of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, a massive infrastructure plan approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking at a recent event captured in a viral video on Friday, Makinde expressed concern over what he described as unnecessary evasiveness from the Minister of Works, David Umahi, regarding the project’s cost per kilometre. The governor’s remarks come amid intense public debate over the transparency and economic justification of the multibillion-naira highway project, which is one of the most ambitious road construction undertakings in Nigeria’s history.
Governor Makinde, known for his pragmatic approach to governance and fiscal transparency, criticized the minister’s reluctance to provide clear answers on the project’s financial breakdown. “They asked a minister how much the coastal road is, and then you (Umahi) are dancing around and saying that no, the next kilometre is different from the next kilometre. Then what is the average cost?” Makinde asked pointedly.
He went on to provide examples from his own administration’s infrastructure projects in Oyo State, showing detailed cost comparisons to justify why the minister’s defensiveness was unwarranted.
“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road, it was about ₦9.99 billion almost ₦10 billion for about 34 or 35 kilometres. The average cost was about ₦238 million per kilometre. But when we did Iseyin to Ogbomoso, which was 76 kilometres, it was about ₦43 billion, averaging ₦500 million per kilometre. And we had two bridges, one over the Ogun River and another at the Ogbomoso end,” the governor explained.
The governor’s comments were in direct response to a now-viral on-air confrontation between Minister Umahi and Arise TV presenter, Rufai Oseni. During the live interview earlier in the week, Oseni had pressed the minister to provide a cost breakdown of the Lagos-Calabar project, asking for the average cost per kilometre a question that Umahi appeared to find offensive.
The exchange quickly grew heated, with the minister rebuking the journalist and asserting his authority on the matter. “These are elementary questions. And it makes no sense,” Umahi snapped during the interview. “A process is ongoing, payment has been made, and you are saying, ‘how has this money been utilised?’ The money is meant for the project, and it will be paid according to the work done.”
Umahi further defended his position by emphasizing the technical complexity of the project and dismissing Oseni’s inquiry as uninformed. “How can you be asking for the cost of a kilometre? The prices are different. The next kilometre is different from the next kilometre,” the minister said, visibly irritated.
“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know. I’m a professor in this field. You don’t understand anything. I understand engineering very well. You have no knowledge of what you are asking.” The exchange, which quickly trended on social media, drew sharp criticism from viewers who accused the minister of arrogance and a lack of accountability.
Refusing to back down, Oseni retorted, “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.” The exchange encapsulated a larger debate about transparency in government spending and accountability in the execution of large-scale public projects.
For many Nigerians, the minister’s unwillingness to clearly state the project’s financial details reinforced concerns about possible inflation of costs and lack of oversight in federal contracts.
According to The Punch, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project was formally announced in 2023 as part of President Tinubu’s infrastructure development plan aimed at boosting connectivity and economic activity along Nigeria’s coastal regions.
The 700-kilometre highway is designed to link Lagos to Calabar, passing through nine states with additional spurs connecting to northern routes. The project’s first phase, covering 47.47 kilometres of dual carriageway, was officially handed over to Hitech Construction Company Limited, with construction to be done using concrete pavement technology.
In a statement issued by the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, Umahi stressed that the government expected all contractors to work within the stipulated timeframes and that there would be no room for cost variations caused by project delays.
He also reiterated the administration’s commitment to delivering quality infrastructure that meets global standards. However, despite these assurances, the controversy surrounding the project’s cost continues to generate public debate, with citizens and experts alike calling for greater transparency. Governor Makinde’s intervention has now added a powerful political voice to that demand, reinforcing the message that accountability remains non-negotiable in the use of public funds.